LIGHTING DESIGN INSTITUTE of UAD: Runner-Up of World Design Awards 2023. Shixin South Road, the axis of the old urban area of Xiaoshan, is a major road near the sports center of Xiaoshan District. Jincheng Road is the west entrance to the District. The landscape and architectural lighting design along these two roads is an important part in showcasing the image of Xiaoshan and is of great significance to create urban night views boasting Xiaoshan features and matching the upcoming Asian Games.

The lighting design for the project is based on Xiaoshan District’s urban lighting planning, which highlights “a center, a riverside belt, two axes (consisting of Shixin Road and Jincheng Road), and three areas”.

Through lighting improvement for the buildings and landscape nodes along Shixin Road and Jincheng Road, the project is intended to facilitate the District’s strategies for future development and create night views in a scientific, reasonable way. It aims to infuse a sense of fashion and an international style into the night-time cityscape of Xiaoshan, to add glamour to downtown Xiaoshan, promote its popularity and improve citizens’ sense of happiness.

The design’s focus was to improve the city’s urban surfaces, with innovation in creating a human scale-friendly experience. The design team considered multiple aspects including lighting methods, adaptability and interactive control to figure out a lighting design scheme geared to an old urban area, aiming to enhance the atmosphere of the streets and bring vitality through light and shadow.

In this lighting improvement project, warm yellow is selected as a basic tone to create a friendly, amiable atmosphere in the neighborhood and improve the citizens’ sense of fulfillment. The project has revitalized Shixin Road, which has a long history, through lighting environment improvement. In addition, the design team enhanced the environment of unlit areas in street corner squares and pocket parks. Interactive, fun nodes are also added to provide more leisure destinations for the citizens.

The lighting for special materials. As some of the buildings were built years ago with special ceramic tiles, general wall washers failed to meet the designers’ expectations. During the design process, the design team took into consideration the situation of the building facades and made multiple adjustments to the design scheme. After on-site testing, they finally achieved the desired effect by the use of small-angle projector lights.

Lighting for special structures. Many of the European-style commercial buildings along the road have domes of different sizes and shapes. It was challenging to install lights on the site and obtain even light. To get the expected lighting effect, the design team overcame challenges brought by the spatial limitations on the site, by using hidden holders and supplemental lighting facilities to bring evenly distributed light at the domes.

The hiding of equipment and pipelines. The hiding of equipment and pipelines is essential in urban renewal projects. It was also a key part in the lighting design for Shixin South Road.

The design team studied low-carbon lights during the design process. Low-carbon lighting products were used in the project, to minimize the wastage of lighting fixtures. New light sources and lamps and highly efficient parts were chosen. In addition, a smart control system was adopted to reduce energy consumption, manage light diffusion and create a livable urban space where people and light coexist harmoniously.

Project Details
Firm
LIGHTING DESIGN INSTITUTE of UAD

Designer
Wang Xiaodong

Project Name
Lighting Design of Shixin South Road and Jincheng Road

World Design Awards Category
Lighting Design

Project Location
Hangzhou

Team
Wang Xiaodong, Jin Yudi, Fu Dongming, Lin Luan, Feng Baile, Wu Xuhui

Country
China

Photography ©Credit
©LIGHTING DESIGN INSTITUTE of UAD, Jia Fang

The Architectural Design & Research Institute of Zhejiang University Co., Ltd. (UAD) was established in 1953. The mission of UAD is to seek “harmonious environment, global vision, design-teaching-research integration and innovation, and the highest professionalism”. UAD adopts the development strategy of “high-grade culture, broad vision, high-efficiency management, high-caliber talents, high professional technologies and high-quality works”, with the academic theory of “Balanced Architecture” as the design guideline. During the past decades, UAD has always persisted in creating fine and innovative works, contributing a large number of outstanding works in various fields.